boyer



H. D. BOYER.

GREASE cu?. RPLICATION FILED OCT. I7. l9l4 RENEWED IAN. I8. l9l9.

,304,5317, v v Patented May 27, 1919. a suEETs-sHET 1..

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H. D. BOYER.

GREASE CUP. APPUcAnoN msn om. 11. 1914. HENEwEu MN. la. |919.

Patented May 27, 1919.

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H. D. BOYER.

` GREASE cul. APPLICATION FILED 0CT. H. 1914. RENEWED MN. la |919.1,304,537.

Patented May 27, 1919.

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stand how to nin En STATES PATENT oEEic-E.

HARRISON D. BOYER, or PHILADELPIIIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, EY'ivIEsNEASSIGNMENTS, 'ro LEANDER w. EIDELE, oF GLEN EIDDLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

GREASE-cui?.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Application filed october i7, 1914, seriai No. 867,145. 'Renewed Januaryis, 1919. seriai No; 271,912.

To all whom t may concern: y

Be itl known that I, HARRISON D. BOYER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grease- Cups,of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in grease cups, orthat class of'lub-ricators designed to feed a non-fluid lubricant tojournal bearings and the like,

especially to that Vclass'of such grease cups as utilize a plunger forforcing the grease into the bearing and consists primarily in connectinga signaling semaphore with the plunger, and so arranging the parts thatsaid semaphore will remain out of signal position during the feeding ofthe grease and be thrown into signal position just prior to the end ofthe stroke of the plunger.

With these ends in view this invention consists in -the details ofconstructionv and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and thenspecifically designated by the claims. Y

In order that those skilled inthe art to which this invention appertainsmay undermake and use the same', I will describe its construction indetail, referring by numeral to the accompanying drawings forming a partof this specification, in which- Figure 1, is an elevation of one designof myimproved grease' cup.

Fig. 2,' is a centralvertical section thereof, showing an air trapplunger. y

Fig. 3, is a verticalsection of the plunger.

Fig. 4, is a plan vview of. the'plunger.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of a slightly modiiedform of grease cup.

Fig. 6 is a central vertical section of Fig. 5 showing the plunger atthe end of its stroke,

iwhereby the semaphore is set in signal position. Y

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig.l 6,'a't right angles thereto, showingthe plunger at'the initial end of its stroke,rand the'semaphore utilizedas a stroke to'hold the plunger' in this position. l

Fig. 8,- is a central verticaljsection ofa lis forced inward against'the plunger downward,

grease cup designed to weigh the pressure upon the grease.

Fig. 9 is a detail elevation'of the plunger shown in Fig. 8, thevsemaphore being attached thereto. f

Fig. 10 is a plan View of Fig. 9.

Fig.`.1'1, is a still further modification of my improvement. l

Fig. 12, is a side elevation of a further modification of my improvedgrease cup.

s Fig. 13, is a central vertical section of Fig. 12; and

Fig. 14, is a detail view showing the means utilized 'for preventing theaccidental backing od'of the feed screw.

In carrying out my invention as illus'- trated in Figs. 1 to etinclusive, 1 represents the lower member or body of the grease cup,while 2 represents the upper member or cap,

the latter being threaded into the former.

Within the lcap is fitted the plunger 3, so as to slide therein, andthis plunger is hollow having a stem 4i formed therewith. Above theplunger is located a spring 5 which tends to force saidplunger downward,this downward movement being limited bythe semaphore 6 which is pivotedVto the stem as clearly shown in Fig. 2. These parts'are vso related toeach other that when the plunger the action of the spring, the semaphorewillfall out of the signal position, but as the plunger nears the limitof its stroke, Vthis semaphore will be thrown into signal position asclearly shown in Fig. 2. Theplunger being hollow, will trap the aircontained therein, while the cap is screwed within the body, and as thiscap is screwed down against the grease contained in the body, the air inthe plunger will be compressed until this pressure 'overb'alances thetension of the spring, when the plunger will be forced upward andthesemaphore is fed by the air pressure within the plunger which pressurewill gradually decrease until the tension of the spring is sufficient toforce the semaphore intoV signal position, which ,gives 'warning thatthe cap is to be screwed into the body to reestablish. sufficient airpressure to properly feed the grease.

thereby throwing In Figs. 5, 6 and 7 I have shown a form of cup in whichthe cup is supplied with grease by filling the cap instead of the body,and in this form of cup it is necessary to lock the plunger in itselevated position against the action of its spring in order that the capmay be filled with grease without the latter being ejected therefrom,during the filling operation, and in this construction 7 represents thebottom member which is only deep enough to receive the threaded end ofthe cap 8, the bottom being internally threaded for that purpose. In thecap is fitted the plunger 9 so as to slide therein and having a spring10 interposed lbetween it and the top of the cap so as to force saidplunger outward.

A stem 11 carried by the plunger projects through the top of the cap andhas pivoted thereto the semaphore 12, and this semaphore is of suchproportions that when the plunger is drawn to its inner limit, it may belocked into this position by swinging the semaphore to the positionshown in Fig. 7 where it serves as a lock to hold the plunger againstthe action of its spring. When the parts are in this position the capmay be unscrewed from the bottom and iilled with grease, after which itmay be replaced upon the bottom and the plunger released by thesemaphore being swung out of its locked position. When this has beendone the spring will cause the plunger to exert suicient pressure uponthe grease contained in the cup to force the latter through the opening13 to the journal bearing, and when all of the grease has been expelledthe semaphore will be thrown to its signal position as shown in Figs. 5and 6.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10 I have shown a slight modification of theconstruction shown in Figs. l to 4 inclusive, in which the body 1 is thesame in design, while the cap or upper member 2 is left open at the topand the plunger 3 projects through the top of the cap, and has thereon aseries of numbers here shown as from one to 4 inclusive over which thesemaphore 14 swings, said semaphore being in the form of a bail pivotedto the plunger', and by the movement of this semaphore over the numbersupon the top of the plunger, the pressure upon the grease may bedetermined as will be readily understood.

Above the plunger 3 is located a spring 5 one end of which rests againstthe .upper member or cap 2 of the grease cup as'the stationary member,while the other end coacts with the plunger 3 as the movable member andtends to force said plunger downward or outward with relation to the cap2, thereby forcing the grease from the cup, which action causes thesemaphore to move over the numbers upon the top of the plunger as abovedescribed.

In Fig. 11 I have shown a construction of grease cup, in which the cap15 threads over the bottom 16, and in which a short stroke plunger 17 isutilized, having the semaphore 6 operated in the same manner asdescribed in connection with Figs. 1 to 4; and in this construction thegrease may be forced into the journal bearing by screwing down the capirrespective of the action of the plunger, but when the cap is releasedthe plunger will thereafter continue the feeding of the greasethroughout its short stroke at the e-nd of which the semaphore will bethrown to signal position, indicating that the cap must again be set up.This style of greasecup is especially adapted for automobile use and asa vehicle hub cap.

In Figs. 12, 13 and 14 I have shown a slight modification over theconstruction shown in Figs. 5 to in which the stem 18 of the plungerpasses slidingly through a hollow and exterior-ly threaded rod 19, thelower end of the latter bearing against the spring 20, so as action lonthe plunger, to actuate it by its spring-propelled carrying stem, whichis slidable within the hollow rod, but, as an alternative and additionalmeans when found desirable, to force the plunger downward independent ofthe spring action, the exteriorly threaded rod 19 co-acting, for thatpurpose, with the interiorly threaded aperture in the top of the cupmember.

to not only utilize the'spring Y 19 for operating the latter and 22represents the semaphore which is pivoted to the stem 18, and will bethrown' to signal position when the plunger is forced to its lower limitrelative to the threaded rod, and will swing out of signal position whenthe plunger is lforced upward against the action of the spring. .Y

In order that the threaded rod 19 may be eld against accidental rotationor be backed off from any set position by the reaction of the spring,the lower end of this threaded rod is so cut as to form an inclinedplane 23 against which the upper end of thek spring bears as clearlyshown in Fig. 14, thus permitting the threaded rod to be turned whensuiiicient force is applied to the handle 21, but holds it againstaccidental rotation, and to guard against the spring turning by therotation of the threaded rod, the lower end of the spring is inserted ina small hole 24 of the plunger 25. Y i p While yI have shown anddescribed these various designs of grease cups as standing in a verticalposition, it is obvious that all of these designs except those shown inFigs. 1 and 8 maybe used in a horizontal position or at any desiredangle, which is often found necessary in practice.

0f course I do not Wish to be limited to .the .exact details ofconstruction as here shown, as these may be varied within the limits ofthe appended claims without de parting from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, is 1. A lubricator comprising a cap, an air trapping plungeradapted to slide in this cap, a sprlng for forcing the plunger downward,and a semaphore connected with the plunger' so as to normally lie outofsignal position and lbe thrown into signal position at the end of thestroke of the plunger by cooperation with the cap.

2. A lubricator comprising a cap, an air trapping plunger fitted toslide in said cap, a spring adapted to force the plunger downward, astem passing through` the cap, a semaphore pivoted to the stem andadapted to fulcrum upon the cap in being thrown to signal position bythe outwardmovement of the plunger.

3. A lubricator comprising a cap, a plunger fitted to slide therein, aspring adapted to force the plunger downward, a stem projecting from theplunger through the cap, and a semaphore pivoted to the stem adaptedto'fulcrum upon the cap in being thrown to signal position by theoutward movement of the plunger as specified;

4. The combination of a lubrieator cap, a plunger fitted to slidetherein and having numbers on the top thereof, a spring adapted to forcethe plunger in one direction, a semaphore pivoted to' the plunger andcooperating with the cap and adapted to swing over the top of the latterand move across the numbers thereon, so as to determine the pressureexerted by the plunger upon the lubricant.

`5. In a lubricator a cap, an air trapping plunger tted to slide in saidcap and having numbers thereon, a spring adapted to force the plunger inone direction, and a Copies of this patent may be obtained for semaphorepivoted to the plunger adapted to swing across the numbers so as toindicate the pressure in the plunger by coperabers located upon the topthereof, a semaphore pivoted to the plunger and adapted to swing acrosssaid numbers yfor* indicating the pressure within the plunger bycooperation with the cap, and a spring for forcing the plunger in onedirection.

7. A lubricator comprising a cap, a plunger adapted to for forcing theplunger' outward, and a semaphore connected with the Y, plunger so as tonormally lie out of signal position and be thrown into signal positionat the end of the stroke of the'plunger.

8. A lubricator comprising a cap, ger adapted to slide in said cap,semaphore connected with thev plunger so as to normally lie out ofsignal position and be thrown into signal position at the end of thestroke of the plunger by cooperation with the cap.

a plunslide in said cap, a springV and a,

9. A lubricator having a plunger mounted therein and having a portionthereof projecting through the lubricator, and a semaphore pivoted tothe outer end of said projecting portion so as to normally lie out of.

signal position and means coacting with the semaphore to raise it tosignal Vposition at the end ofthe stroke of the plunger.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto aflixed my signature in thepre-sence of two subscribing witnesses.V Y

VHARRISON vD. BOYER.

Witnesses: n

M. E. I-IAMER, M. ToBIAs. i

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. (2.

